First drought, now Australia braces for worsening locust plague

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2004

SYDNEY (AFP) — First it was drought, then bushfires and now locusts, swarming in their millions over a tight swathe of eastern Australia's barely greening pastureland, devouring any and all vegetation in sight.

The latest pestilence to hit the land struck quickly this week, then disappeared, leaving only a wake of devastation and a carpet of the squashed grasshopper-like creatures.

But the Australian Plague Locust Commission warned that more locusts were on the way and agriculture authorities have begun aerial spraying and ground treatment programs.

The commission said in an update to farmers during the week that there had been a significant movements of locusts into northern New South Wales where they were starting to develop eggs. "Laying is imminent," it...